More Modernism Mania

Le Corbusier did a lot to villify the notion of modernism, especially to the 21st Century urban booster. After all, his "skyscrapers in a park" concept for reimagining the urban landscape scorned neotraditional values like historic architecture and pedestrian-scaled environments.

So Modernism is an easy target for criticism. Most pro-urban scholars of the 1960s and 1970s lashed out at the sprawling collections of ranch houses. Their assemblage in floral-esque, curvilinear subdivisions; their awkward angularity; their conspicuous, even ostentatious display of car ports; or even merely their newness and perfect conformity combined with their contrast to the crumbling old Gilded Age buildings across most of America's struggling Rust and Frostbelt: all of these things made Modernism seem like an easy scapegoat, or punching bag, for those frustrated at the misfortunes of their once grand central cities.

It is ironic today that the rise of the post-modern neotraditional mansion in many American suburbs (derided as "McMansions" by many, even academics) has reframed the whole notion of the evils of mid-century modernism. In comparison to today's grotesque caricatures of historical styles, with their distorted scales, unnecessary eaves, and frontal four car garages, mid-century moderns seem quaint, unique, and--shall I say it--historic.




This is the area of my research at the University of New Orleans. I wish to analyze the preservation movement and its change over time as it must continually redress its definition of historic--both to include structures now within the magic "50 year old" time frame to be invited into history and to assess whether or not structures or neighborhoods of cultural significance should see some recognition as well.

After all, is the Post-War subdivision not the ultimate cultural statement of the 1950s? An era in which Joe McCarthy's witchhunt for the Reds inspired dutiful, utterly American, owned, clean, sane, safe neighborhoods in which productive and capitalist citizens would reside? Of course, this is too simple a view of mid-century subdivisions, and, as you will see or have already observed, mid-century architecture is wholly unique and deserves more than a second look.

Coming soon, I will post on what touts itself to be the nation's first recognized Post-War suburban subdivision historic district. But it's a surprise for now.